Runaway From The Past, into the Future
by The Whitest Shade Of Pale
Summary: Her home life was so bad, She had to get away. Will she ever go back, and find what she had left behind?
1. Truth be told, I missed you

Runaway from the past, To the future

The ring of the doorbell echoed through the large house, and soon enough, a tall 18-year old came down the stairs, a mop of brown hair in his eyes. As he ran past the window looking down on the doorstep, and saw his visitor. He grabbed 5 dollars from his pocket and opened the door. It was a girl, Very small, very skinny. Her hair was matted, and dirty. He clothes were very dirty and worn through.

"Hello, Have 5 Dollars, get yourself something to eat," The girl looked up, and when he caught her eye, she immediately turned around, with a muttered apology.

"Rikki? Rikki? Rikki, is that you?" He grabbed her arm, which went dead in his grip. "Rikki? What's the matter? What happened? Rikki, Tell me please, I want to help you," He pleaded with the girl in front of him; Skinny, Dirty, Scared, Trembling, She had bags under her eyes.

_I can't remember when I just flipped. When the thought went through my mind 'Rikki. Go. You don't need this. Who says you deserve this? You don't have to put up with this. Go.' Maybe it was that night. The worst night of my life. I had come home from a date with Zane, and that's when he started. He launched himself at me, Hitting me, Kicking me. He got out his belt at started whacking it against me. I don't know what I had done, But it must have been something really bad. That was the worst he had ever been. He dragged me onto the sofa, and ripped my clothes off. It's always then that I turn my mind to Zane. Zane should be my first, Not my own father. Ever since I was 6, It's shameful. I always think of Zane, Even though we would be under age, I would rather it be Zane anyday. He'd gagged me and tied me to the kitchen table, And used me for a good half an hour at least. My face was swollen, as was the rest of my body, this wasn't right. I needed to go. I had to go. I couldn't live like this much longer. But who would help me? I had friends, Yes. But, It would be too much of a burden on them to look after me. It was enough of them to like me in the first place. Once he had finished, He stood up, untied me then threw me into my bedroom. I sat there crying for an hour. I was only really crying about the rape. I can deal with the physical stuff, But it's the rape. He was my dad for crying out loud. What if he got me pregnant? I could be a mother and a sister in one. This is awful. The beatings have been for as long as I can remember, The beatings since I was 6. But. I have to get out of here. I grabbed my second hand schoolbag, and shoved in some food I had hidden in here for the times that Dad would lock me in here, Sometimes for days on end. I put in my clothes, and anything else I would need. Anything I actually owned, Which wasn't much. I should put some kind of identification in there, To get a job or something. But I don't have any. I don't have a passport, It would be pointless; They're too expensive, and we don't have enough money to go abroad anyway. Bringing my birth certificate (God knows where that is) would be a waste of time. My parents refused to name me when I was born, It was just "Name; None." It was my Grandma who gave me the name Rikki. She's the only nice person in my family. But, She passed away when I was 7. It must run in the family. They're all evil, And the only nice one, Dies. I looked around for anything else I could take. I picked up the picture of me and Zane, took it out of the frame, and put it in my pocket. I climbed out the window, and ran. I kept on running, then I started to walk. I had no idea where I was heading; North, South, East or West. Soon, It became dark, and so I found a space in between two trees that would be okay for the night. I woke up, Ate an energy bar, and carried on walking. At about 3, I found myself entering a big city. I was so tired by then. I found an abandoned warehouse, and then went into a room at the back. I went to the corner, and tried to get to sleep. It didn't take me long, I was so tired. _

_When I woke up, My bag was gone. I had nothing. To begin with, I had next to nothing. But now I have absolutely nothing. I looked in my pocket, Thank God. My picture of me and Zane was still there. I have no idea what to do. I thought that living on the streets would be better than at home, But back there, I at least had somewhere to call home. Despite the beatings and the rape, I was relatively safe. I made my way down to the street, I will see if I can get some money off of someone. Everyone round here knows me as the drunks daughter, probably wanting to get money to keep her father in alcohol. Or herself in alcohol and drugs. But I tried anyway. I'm glad I look quite young for my age, I had lost quite a lot of weight recently. Dad had gotten more and more drunk recently, substituting food for booze. I stood by the war memorial, and waited for someone to walk past. I saw a friendly looking woman, and went over to her,_

"_E-Excuse me? Could I um..Have some -"  
"Get away from me!" She shouted. I walked back over to the steps by the memorial. I kept repeating the begging for about 3 hours, I had managed to scrounge together $3.24. What could I buy worthwhile with that? I went over to Tesco, and went inside. I walked over to the Tesco Value aisle, that way I could get quite a lot of food cheaply. I bought a packet of crisps, a bar of chocolate and a loaf of bread. I was thankful for the low prices. On the way out, I took a cardboard box and a sheet of cardboard from the big thing by the checkouts. I walked over to Argos, and took a pen from the ordering stations. I went back to the memorial, and wrote on the cardboard; "Help Me. Money Appreciated. Please. Or Food. Please" I crawled inside the box, I don't know what was supposed to be in here originally, but, it was big. I ate a square of chocolate, and a piece of bread. Then sat there, waiting to get any donations. _

_And the cycle continued. Beg. Buy. Eat. Wait. Sleep. Beg. Buy. Eat. Wait. Sleep. Except, that everyday I got dirtier. I tried the best I could to get relatively clean. I had to go without 2 days food to buy 'lady stuff' My life was a sham. I had to drop school, That would be the first place my dad would go, Once he realised I had run away. I had no GCSE's, no qualifications. I was going nowhere. I'd be living here for the rest of my shameful life. I thought I had made something of myself when I came and met Emma, Cleo, Zane and Lewis. _

_A month later, I had found that all the supermarkets threw out a lot of food, perfectly fine food, that they couldn't sell, and put it in the big bins at the back. So, I started to take my food from there. It was perfectly fine, As far as I could see._

_I started to lose track of time. My life had gone back into survival mode, from back when I was a kid. Except, This time it was more extreme. Dad wouldn't kill me, he needed me. Who else would he take his anger out on? Who else would cook? All the days melted into one another, Each day was the same. I saw the seasons go past. I watched the Christmas tree go up. Families going past with presents and nice food. I used to zone out from all that when I was with Dad, But now that I was there, Watching all the happiness non-Stop. That hurt. Then, You would get the AfterSchool Rush, With all the groups of friends going into town, Buying smoothies, or milkshakes or whatever. I wonder how my friends are doing. They've probably all forgotten me by now, They are better off without me anyway. The kids all walk past me, Sneering down at me, or ignoring me completely. They don't know how lucky they are really. _

_There's all this pain around me. The pain of not knowing what is ever going to become of me. Would I ever find happiness? Would I be murdered out here? Would I be living on the streets forever? Would dad ever find me? The hunger pain. The pain from ancient injuries that never got medical attention. Mental pain and physical pain. What's the difference?_

_It had been two years. Two whole years. Two years of pain, cold and loneliness. I obviously have no friends here, Who would want to know me? I haven't had a proper conversation in, what, two years. Mine are mostly one sided "Can I have some money please?" The only words that ever pass my lips nowadays, are; "Please?," The occasional "Thank you," and "Money?." I wished for someone to talk to, For someone to at least act like they care. Ask me how I am, And then tell me to get lost at least. It was June, The third June I had spent here, when I had a proper conversation with someone. I had gone round the back of Tesco's, to try and scrounge some food. I was digging around in the bin, When I heard someone;_

"_Hello? Is there someone there?" I crouched down behind the skip. "Look I know there's someone there. Hello!" It was a girl, A young woman, To be honest. I rose my head up from behind it, looking at her, She smiled at me, and said,_

"_You know, The better food is in the other skip."_

"_..Thanks" I mumbled, walking over to the other one, and peering inside, Liking the look of a pile of unwanted ready made sandwiches._

"_May I ask you something?"_

_I turned around, and looked at her, and shrugged._

"_What is it like? Living on the streets?" I was a bit taken aback from someone actually talking to me, and being nice, It took me a while to find my voice._

"_..Hard" I looked at her. Clean hair. Clean clothes. Clean body. She had the Tesco uniform on, with a badge reading "Hello. My name is Lisa, How may I help you?" She sat down on the step, and took a sandwich out of her bag._

"_I'm on my break," I smiled at her, looking at her sandwich. "When was the last time you ate something?" She asked me._

"_I don't know..Yesterday? Day before..I can't remember," I still kept my distance from her, I find it hard to trust people now._

"_Here, Have it," She held out her sandwich at me._

"_I can't.." I replied, Looking at her. Why should she give it to me? Why did I deserve it? She's only just met me._

"_Yes you can, take it. I don't feel right sat here eating, While you are here, and you haven't eaten in..Well, Who knows." She held it back out again, and I took it greatfully. I wolfed it down in about 3 bites, I was so hungry._

"_Wow." I blushed._

"_..Sorry. And thanks"_

"_There's no need. How old are you?"_

"_Um..18? I think..Yeah, 18 and a half."_

"_Really? Me too, So strange about the differences between us though."_

"_Yeah.."  
"How old were you when you left home?"  
"16,"_

"_Really?" I nodded, "Wow, Were things bad at home?" I nodded again, and looked at the floor._

"_I'm sorry..I didn't mean to upset you.."_

"_It's fine..It's just nice to have..You know..Someone talking to me..It's been such a long time.."  
"You left all your friends behind?"_

"_Yeah. They're probably all better off without me anyway.."  
"I bet they're not, I bet they still think about you everyday. Did you have a boyfriend?" I sighed, and smiled._

"_Yeah..His name was Zane." I put my hand in my pocket, and took out the now tatty photograph, and showed it to her._

"_Wow, He's really fit," She smiled at me,  
"I know. I miss him. I miss all my friends.."  
"And this is you?" _

"_Yeah,"_

"_You're really pretty." I blushed,_

"_Not any more. Just skin and bone, Dirt. I.. Oh my god, I am so sorry.." I said standing up._

"_Why? What's the matter?"  
"And I stink..I am so sorry.." I said backing away. _

"_You don't smell that bad, And even if you did really smell, It would be understandable. You've been living on the streets for 2 years,"_

"_I'm really sorry though.."  
"Don't worry about it, Have you ever thought about going back home?"  
"No." I said firmly, "Never. No way."  
"Was it that bad?" I nodded, "It was my dad.."He used to..Um.." I looked at the trees swaying in the wind, "Beat me..And rape me..I needed to get away. I am not going back to him. Never." He face clouded over,_

"_Oh my god..I'm so sorry,"_

"_It's not your fault."  
"You should get some help.."  
"Who would help me?" _

"_There are charities out there..Bernardo's..And Step by Step.."  
"No..I'm not going to a Charity.."  
"There must be someone you could go to." I shook my head,_

"_What about Zane?"_

"_What?"_

"_Your boyfriend. He cares about you. I can tell."_

"_Zane?"  
"Yeah,"  
"Why?"  
"Why not?"_

"_Because..Because he probably has a new girlfriend. He has probably forgotten all about me, I am so selfish that I left without even telling him. Without even saying goodbye. He probably hates me."_

"_I bet he doesn't"_

"_Yes he does. He's this rich boy, Son of an entrepreneur. Why would he care about me?" _

"_He did once, He does now."  
"He won't.."  
"What if he does? You'll never know."  
"What do you mean?"_

"_You'll never know until you try." I turned around at her._

"_Are you suggesting that I walk for days on end, To my old town, To my..What..Ex-Boyfriend? Boyfriend? Whatever? Arrive on his doorstep, dirty, and smelling to high heaven, then ask is he recognises me?"  
"Yeah. That's what I'm saying. Yes."  
"You're mad, Then what do I do when I get there, and he tells me to get lost?"  
"He won't."  
"But what if he does?"  
"Then he'll be a selfish bastard who won't help someone when they need help."  
"What should I do then?"  
"Go to a homeless person shelter. You're young, They'll sort you out. You'll be fine,"  
"Right. On your head be it."  
"Oooh. Posh."  
"Hardly."  
"Did you finish school?"  
"Nope. When I ran away, I just ran and ran and ran. Then I got here, I couldn't really."_

"_Ooh. Well, You should go, Now, Find your little Zane, and he'll help you. If he's a true gentleman, He will."_

"_Thanks.."_

"_Don't mention it. What do they call it.." She clicked her fingers, "Comfort from a stranger? Confide..No..Trust a..No..I don't know."  
"I know what you mean."  
"But then, You've got to come back, Tell me how you're doing, OK?"_

"_Yeah..But why?"  
"Well, Ever since I started working here, I used to see you, come up here every so often, and take food. I could see you go back to your little house..Squat.."  
"Box. Cardboard bloody box." _

"_Yeah..I would see you, reaching out to people, them telling you to leave them alone, then you would sit there." She smiled sympathetically_

"_Please don't feel sorry for me. I brought this upon myself."  
"No you didn't. Your father did."  
"I'm the one that chose to leave."  
"Yeah, because of what he did." I stood up, and looked at her. "It wasn't your fault. Some people are just evil like that." I gave her a questioning look._

"_But he's my Dad."_

"_Yes, Maybe he is, But he wasn't a very good one."  
"It doesn't matter who your parents are; Serial killers, Rapists or abusers. They're still your parents.."_

"_I know..But.." I smiled nervously at her. "So are you going to see your Zane or not?"_

"_Yeah..Thanks for talking to me like this..It means a lot..I can't remember the last time someone actually talked to me.."_

"_No worries, and Good luck,"_

"_Thank you so much," _

"_Yeah, Well, I've already gone over my lunch break time, Better go in now, Don't want to get fired." She smiled at me, Then I smiled again at her back._

"_Bye,"  
"See you,"_

_I turned, and looked at the road ahead of me, And started to walk._

"Oh Rikki.." He looked down on her, And she looked up at her with big blue scared eyes.

"I-I don't know w-what to do..C-Could you help me? Please..I'll try and make it up to you..I don't know..I could clean? Or I could.."

"There's no need, Come in, We'll get you cleaned up."

"Thanks.."

He ran upstairs, and she stood awkwardly inside the front door, Soon enough, she heard a bath running, Then he came down the stairs again.

"Do you need anything to eat?"  
"Yes..Yes please.." She replied

"When was the last time you ate?"

"Probably about 2 days ago.." He sighed, and smiled sadly at her.

"Right, Here we go. A sandwich, Some cereal. I'll get you some soup in a minute to warm you up,"  
"Thank you,"  
"Do you want to get a change of clothes?"

"I-I don't..Have any.."  
"Oh. Well, You can borrow one of my T-Shirts? You could wear it as a dress?" She giggled at him. She gulped down the sandwich and cereal, then he showed her upstairs to the bathroom. She looked at the water in the bath, Then a question went through her head, But Zane asked it.

"Do you still have your tail?"

"I-I don't know.."

"Well. There's only one way to find out."  
"Hmm?" She looked at him, Then he splashed her. She giggled, then as she turned to fall, Zane caught her.

"That will be a Yes then." She laughed. He lifted her up, and placed her in bath. "I'll go get you a towel, And a T-Shirt or something,"

"Thanks."

"You can use the shower gel, And the shampoo, I'll be back in about 10 minutes,"  
"Thanks,"

"No worries."

She started to lather up her hair, and the bathwater basically turned black, She was that grubby. She continued to wash the rest of her body, and then smiled to herself. She let the water out, Then dried herself off.

"Rikki?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah, Sure," He opened the door.

"Oh, I forgot you were a human blow-Drier." She giggled at him again. He held out to her a T-Shirt, and a smile spread across her face.

"Do you remember it too?"

"Yeah.." She used to love this shirt, She would always wear it whenever she came round Zane's house. It came down to her knees, Which made them both laugh.

"Well, There you go,"

"Thanks," He went out of the room, and shut the door. Rikki took off the clothes that she hadn't really taken off for the past two years – What else could she have worn? She put the shirt on, and smiled at herself in the mirror. She opened the door, and met Zane on the landing. They walked into his bedroom, and sat on his bed. She noticed a photo-frame on his bedside table.

"You still kept that?"

"Yeah, Of course I did. When you went..We..We didn't know what to do..Emma and Cleo were devastated..We were all hoping you would be ok..That you would come back soon.."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Of course we did. Hey, Look what you're wearing in this photo.." He pointed at the shirt she was wearing, which she was also wearing now. She laughed.

"You look so different, But also the same.."  
"What do you mean?"

"Well..You've lost a lot of weight..But, You look younger and older at the same time..You were 16 when the photo was taken, But now you're 18. You look older, But you look really vulnerable and young too.."

"OK..If you say so.." he laid down back on his bed, and pulled her down afterwards.

"Just like old time, Aye?"

"Yeah.." She smiled at him, "Zane?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I asked you something?"

"Yeah, Course."

"Are we..Still..Together?"

"Um, We never broke up."  
"Did you have any girlfriends while I was gone?"  
"No way, Of course not. Did you? But..Like boyfriends" He chuckled.

"No, No one ever went near me.."

"So we are still a couple?"

"Yeah," She snuggled into his chest. "I love you Rikki,"  
"How can you love me, When I ran away from you all?"  
"You didn't run away from us, You ran away from your past,"

"Still.."

"Then you ran to your future..With me,"

"Zane..That's really soppy."

"And? I love you. Love is _supposed _to be soppy."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"I love you too,"


	2. I Had To Get Away

"I had to get away, But now I'm back"

"_**Hey Zane.." She strutted over to him, across the Juicenet.**_

"_**Miriam. What?" He answered agitatedly **_

"_**I was thinking," She replied, tracing circles on his hand which was resting against the table. "You and me, Could go out for dinner tonight."**_

"_**No, Miriam. No way."**_

"_**But, Why?"**_

"_**Hello, I'm going out with Rikki. She's better than you, Leave me alone."**_

"_**B-But Zane! How can she love you? She ran away!"**_

"_**Miriam." He pulled her close to his face, and spat, "She ran away. Because she had to. She will come back to me. Now just piss off!"**_

_**She turned away, And stormed out of the café. Zane looked at his mobile screen, No messages.**_

"_**Rikki.." he whispered.**_

Zane woke up, and looked at the girl next to him. He was right, She did come back. He got out of bed, and wrapped the covers round her, Tucking her in. Looking at her, So small underneath all the bedclothes, Made a single tear fall from his face. So, He turned away, Just in case she woke up. She had been asleep for ages, But Zane put this down to 2 years sleepless nights, and God knows how many before that. He heard a faint murmuring, and moaning. He looked behind him, and Rikki was tossing and turning.

"Rikki, Rikki, It's OK, Rikki, I'm here, It's just a dream." I stroked her arm.

"Zane.." She nuzzled into my chest, I wrapped my arms around her.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"It was my Dad.."

"Oh Rikki, But it's all over now.."

"But what if he finds out I'm here?"

"He won't. You said he's down the pub most of the time."

"Yeah..You haven't told Emma and Cleo I'm back have you?"

"No, I haven't got round to it yet. Why don't you want me to?"

"Not..Not just yet..Please?"

"Whatever you want," He scooped her up into his lap. "So what do you want to do today?" He said in her ear.

"I don't know.." She snuggled into his chest. "Can I go to Mako?"

"Yeah..Why are you asking me for? It's your life!"

"But you're part of it,"  
"You say I'm soppy!"

"Zane.."

"So you want to go to Mako?"

"Yup. For..Like..Memories..You know,"

"Yeah, Do you want me to come with you?"

"Nah, You can go..Out on your boat or something..I want to be alone,"  
"You're not going to run off on me again are you?"  
"Never."

Rikki surfaced at the moonpool, She couldn't remember the last time she had done that. She looked around, smiling to herself. 2 years ago it would have been. Things were bad at home, Nothing she couldn't handle. But then it got too bad. Out of control. Rikki always had to be in control, ever since her mum left, That was the thing she focused mostly on. She got out, and dried herself. She stood up, Still in Zane's shirt, and had more of a look around, It had been so long..She couldn't really remember it completely.

Suddenly, she heard some splashes, and she ducked behind a rock.

"How long has it been?" A girls voice echoed round the base of the volcano

"2 years, a month and 3 days."

"I wonder if she's ok..You don't think she could have..You know.."

"No! Don't think of that, Think positive."

The two girls strode off out of Rikki's view, and so she moved a bit, So she could still see them. They looked vaguely familiar, like old friends, But different. They laid some flower in the corner, on a pile of other flowers, that was so high, That the flowers towards the bottom were already rotting away.

"Please come home Rikki.." One of the girls whispered.

"You know I hate flowers." The two girls looked confused, Then saw the girl in front of them. So small, pale and thin.

"R-Rikki?"

"Yeah. Hi." She replied, staring at the floor.

"Where we you-Why did you le-What went wr-Why di-" The blonde girl gabbled.

"You are Emma and Cleo yeah?"

"Yes. Of course we are..Can't you remember us?"

"You've just changed.." She looked nervously at them.

"We could say the same to you.."

"You've just got older, That's all.."

"You..You look really sad..And thin..Are you okay?"

"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Rikki, you ran away..You wouldn't have ran away if everything was ok.."

"Please. Can you just drop it?" She pleaded with them. "I'm back now..So can we just leave it at that?"

Emma and Cleo exchanged glances.

"Yeah, Ok..But promise you'll tell us one day, Okay?"

"Yeah. ok. Fine" She lied, Hoping they wouldn't notice.

"Do you wanna go get a juice? You know, It's been a long time.."

"Erm.." She tried not to hurt their feelings. "I'm trying to keep a low profile..Just in case.." She bit her tongue before she said too much.

"Just in case what?" Emma pressured.

She did say too much.

"Nothing."

"Rikki, We're supposed to be your best friends.. Why can't you tell us?"

"I just really don't want to talk about it..At the moment.."

"You will tell us one day?"

"Yeah. I hope so." She was looking at the floor throughout the whole conversation. Both Emma and Cleo couldn't remember a time when Rikki was so nervous. Something serious had happened, There was no doubt about that. But, what? They were going to find out, And help her. Anyone could tell she was extremely distressed about something.

"Does Zane know you're back?" The broken girl in front of them immediately perked up at the sound of his name.

"Yeah," She grinned. "Yeah he does."

"Does he know the..Reasons..behind it all?"

"Yes..I told him..I just don't want to go through it all again..It would make it more..Real..Y'know?"

"Yeah, We understand, So we can ask Zane, and get him to tell us?"

"Yeah. I'd rather that. I don't really want to talk about it."

"Was it that bad?" She nodded slowly, and allowed a tear to drop from her bowed head to he sand. "Me and Cleo are here to talk, Anytime. And Lewis, Everyone, We're there for you. Just remember that. We're here for you."

"Lisa was right.." She whispered.

"Hmm?" Emma asked.

"Nothing,"

Emma and Cleo pulled Rikki into a hug. She was very rigid, but then relaxed into the embrace of her two best friends.

"Just like old times eh?"

[Oh my god, Sorry guys! I've been told today, That it's almost been 3 weeks since I last updated. Basically, I've been up to my unibrow in homework (The unibrow was a lie, But I do have a lot of homework) And, I had a plan. But I realised I had written it on the back of my DT homework, So I had to print off another sheet, But I lost the plan. So I was writing it as I went along. I think I can remember now, Just about. Anyway, Thanks for reading (: ]


	3. Memories, secrets, and lies

**Memories, secrets and lies**

"Hey babe," Zane looked at the girl laying next to him, she had run away, due to problems at home, but she came back to him, just like he had said. Many people called her selfish for leaving, but he knew the real Rikki. The real Rikki didn't let anything get through to her, so whatever had happened, it was bad. He had wished for her to come back for him, and in the end, she did. He had started to lose hope, but had tried not to believe the lies he had been told over the 2 years she had been gone. His little mermaid looked up at him, and smiled through the bright afternoon light.

"Hey.."

"Thought you'd never wake up,"

"Hmm? What time is it?"

"Almost 3," He smiled.

"Oh god," She got on to her feet, as if she had something to do, which in fact she didn't. Zane had let her pop back into his life, hey, she wasn't complaining, and let him do everything for her. She wasn't really complaining about that either, it just made her uncomfortable. She was giving too much though to everything. She had spent too long bored, and now she was trying to keep herself busy by analysing everything, rather than just enjoying the moment. Halfway though her mental telling off to herself, his lips crashed onto hers. She was a bit surprised at first, but continued to deepen the kiss. He started to run his fingers through her hair, then they fell onto the bed behind them. She had her back on the bed, with Zane on top of her. Zane suddenly realised that Rikki was no longer participating. Instead, she was rigid, and she wasn't moving. Suddenly, she started shaking.

"Please..Please..Stop.." He immediately pulled away, frightened that he had hurt her.

"Rikki, what's wrong? Did I do something?"

Rikki looked shocked, "Y-You stopped.."

"Yes..Well done..What do you mean? Weren't you expecting me to?"

Rikki remained silent, which turned into an awkward silence between the two.  
Finally, Zane looked at Rikki,

"Rikki?"

She didn't answer, but he could tell she was listening to him

"Are you a ...Virgin?"

Rikki slowly shook her head, not bothering to wipe the tear that was rolling down her pale cheeks.

"And was that..And was that you choice?"

She shook her head again, pulling her knees up into her body. Zane sat next to her and pulled the shaking girl onto his lap, and stroked her head.

"I'm sorry.. You just.. you just reminded me of.. I'm sorry.."

"Rikki, forget it. Now," He tried to the lighten the mood "Which one of my shirts do you want to wear today." He heard her lightly chuckle beneath the now silent sobs.

"I don't mind.."

"Why don't we go into town and get you some of your own clothes?"

"I couldn't.."

"Yes, you could. Anyway, I'm making you..You have no choice.." He leant in and kissed her on the lips before she had time to argue back.

… … … …

Zane and Rikki walked hand in hand through the shopping centre, with a few bags between them. Rikki had the most, she refused to let Zane carry them all, as he had already bought them all. Rikki stopped walking as they walked past a shop's window Zane kept walking, without realising. He went a bit further before he couldn't go any further, and was pulled back towards her.

"Rikki?" He turned around, and his girlfriend was looking intently through the shop window. He walked towards her and joined her by her side, and followed her gaze.  
She had stopped in front of the local Jobseekers office, and was looking at the job vacancies put in the front window. She stepped to the left, and took a step towards the door. Zane grabbed her arm, and pulled her back so that he could speak in her ear with her still facing the shop.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"I have to pay you back somehow.."

Zane spun her around so she was facing him,

"Don't be stupid," She turned to look back at the window, and he put a hand on her face and gently pulled it back so she was looking at him.

"How else am I supposed to pay you back then?"

"With these," He replied, and kissed her. "Now, how about a haircut?"

"Zane, seriously. What with your obsession with clothes, haircuts and kissing, I do secretly worry that you're gay." Zane chuckled, shook his head then strode off in direction of the hairdressers.

… … … …

"So, what will it be today?" The hairdresser asked Rikki, who had been forcefully brought into the hairdressers. After scowling at Zane, to make it even more obvious that she didn't like it, replied.

"Just make it look decent. I don't know. Still long though. Tidy it up I guess."

"Yeah, sure, I can do that," _That's why you're called a hairdresser _Rikki thought. "Now, if you would like to make your way over to the sinks, and we'll wash it for you,"

"Could we not? I washed it before we arrived, and I have a really sensitive scalp, I have to have special shampoo," It was a half lie, she _had_ washed it before she arrived. But, she didn't add the part that she would be a stranded fish by the first shampoo.

"Yeah, of course. A dry cut it is. Now, I'll be right back,"

Rikki nodded, and relaxed her fists which she didn't noticed had clenched up with the worry of being exposed. Rikki turned to look around the hairdressers, waiting for her hairdresser to come back. The quicker she came back, the quicker she could get out of here. Rikki didn't like this much attention. She looked back into the mirror, and something caught her eye. A person she vaguely recognised was standing looking at her, smiling at her. Rikki couldn't remember who it was, and turned round to look. She turned around, but the person was gone.

**[AN – Sorry for this, the wait that is.. I started writing it on Wednesday, then I couldn't quite write the little 'are you a virgin' bit. Yeah. Anyway, I just realised that I have 2 stories on the go. There is only going to be one chapter after this. I don't know when I'm going to finish the other one.. I really _really _want to write a Twilight one, I have an idea already, so watch out xD That's so cheesy xD. Anyway, thanks for reading, I appreciate the reviews I get. Talking about reviews, I'm not going to turn into one of those people who begs for reviews. I would just like to say that this story has had like 161 hits, but only 11 reviews. And about 4 of the reviews that I do have, are part of an argument *cough*ChelseaAndAStranger*cough* So yeah. I'm not going to start being like '5 reviews or else' - Bye x**


	4. Confrontation finale

-Bit of language at the end-

**Confrontation**

"I have a surprise for you," Zane announced, having picked her up from a trip to the hairdressers. Rikki groaned.

"What is it? I mean, you've given me a haircut and bought me clothes, what _else _could you possibly do?"

"You'll see," Rikki groaned again. "That woman tried to give me a hair wash. Water Zane! Water!"

"Oh god, how did you hide your fishy form?" Rikki gave him a playful slap. "Hey!"

"I told her I had a sensitive scalp..." He turned to look at her, and grinned shaking his head.

"What do I do with you?"

"Well, I did ask, but you never told me," Rikki whined, he shook his head at her again, chuckling to himself.

"We're nearly there, so stop your whining!" He slung his arm round her shoulders, leading to a place she hadn't visited in over 2 years; she hadn't thought about it either, it brought back too many memories.

"Zane..." She warned when she realised where he was taking her.

"Yes?" He replied innocently

"What are you doing?"

"You'll see, you don't like surprises do you?"

"No Zane, I just don't like not being in control. Now. What is going on?"

He led her through the doors to the Juicenet cafe, where she and all her friends used to hang out in, things where still bad at home, she could cope with it. Then when it got too much, she upped and left. It brought back memories, but she remembered the happier ones this time. When they walked through the door, she noticed there was banners all over the walls reading; "Welcome back Rikki!" Then, loads of people that she vaguely recognised jumped from behind tables and seats, shouting "Surprise!" Rikki just froze. She wanted to keep a low profile, just in case her Dad realised she was back, she would definitely be in for it then. She looked around nervously. If there was this many people there, chances were that her dad knew she was back. She'd only been standing there in the doorway for about 10 seconds, but with all the thoughts she had been thinking, it may as well have been an hour. She turned around and bolted through the double doors. Zane gave a look to Emma and Cleo, begging with his eyes at them.

They nodded imperceptibly, and then ran out the cafe after Rikki. They could see her she had about a 10 metre head start on them. They followed as she ran towards the beach, she had realised that there was no point it running on any further and collapsed on the sand by a rock. Her body racked with sobs and emotion. She had curled her knees up, and rested her forehead on her knees. Emma and Cleo cautiously kneeled next to her.

"Rikki, what is it?" Emma rubbed her shoulder, and Rikki shook her head and nestled her face further into her knees, if that were possible.

"Rikki, come on, you can tell us anything, you know that..." Cleo added. Rikki lifted her tear stained face, and the other two girls could now see the years of abuse at home showing on her face.

"What if he...Finds out I'm here... Then finds me... I need to find him, before he finds me... He'll hurt me more if it was the other way round..." she sniffled in an answer.

"Rikki, he won't know you're back, you look really different than last time..."

"What if he does though? What if he comes to find me? And hurts you all...Take me back again?"

"We won't let that happen. So I take it you want the party called off?"

She nodded.

"I want to see my dad," She blurted out suddenly. The other girls were taken aback; she had suddenly changed her mind.

"W-What?! You just said that he would hurt you, Rikki! Why do you want to see him?"

"He's... He's still my dad... I just want him to know I'm leaving...To stay with Zane.. Then you won't get hurt, and neither will I... I couldn't get you hurt for something I did... He would go all out to hurt you guys, just to get at me... I need to find him, talk to him..." She let out in a rush, and then looked up from the sand to her fellow mermaid's faces, to see their reaction to her outburst.

"Rikki... You know that we don't like this idea, and we know that Zane won't either. But he loves you, I think he will probably give in, and let you see him, but you have to let us come with you... Just in case..."

Rikki closed her eyes, holding back even more tears, and nodded, biting her lower lip. Emma held her hand out, and Rikki took it, pulling herself up. The two girls smiled at her

"Zane?" Rikki nodded, and followed Cleo and Emma back to where she just ran from.

The journey was spent in silence, and Rikki started running ahead as she saw Zane waiting for her in front of the Juicenet. She ran up to him, wrapped her arms around him, and nestled her face in his chest, gripping his shirt.

"I'm sorry," She murmured into his chest.

"Don't be," He replied, rubbing her back.

Rikki could tell that Zane and one of the girls were mouthing words at each other; she could feel Zane's body shrugging and his head nodding in response to an answer.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I'm sure," Zane lead Rikki off in direction of the caravan park where she had spent her late teens. As the park came into view, Rikki started taking deep breaths, trying to stop herself from crying. She slowed down her steps, taking deliberate paces, whilst she lead her friends in the path to her small caravan. She stopped outside the shabby number 69, taking deep breaths.

She slowly went up the three stairs leading to the front door. She held her breath, and knocked.

They all heard thumping and load swearing. Rikki went rigid. The door flew over, nearly off of its rusty hinges.

"WHAT." He squinted at Rikki, "Oh it's you. Coming back to live off of my money are you, you little bitch? Well you made a bad decision there." He grabbed her by the hair, dragging her into the small caravan. "I've missed this, you came back because I own you. You can't live without me, you know that." He taunted her, then he slapped her round the face, and proceeded to punch her in her face.

"Ah, so I see we have company. Did you tell them, you little bitch? Did you think they'd care? Well you're wrong there, you're just a filthy little whore. They don't care what happens to you. But as you brought them along to the show, would you like them to have their fair share too?" He turned round to look at the pale faced teenagers, who staring at Rikki, who was still being held by her hair by her father.

"No." She cringed, "Just take me, leave them out of it," She winced as the dropped her to the floor then kicked her in the stomach.

"Mr. Chadwick?" Zane spoke up for the first time. "You don't deserve Rikki. She came over here with the common decency which you do not deserve, to tell you that she was no longer going to be staying with you, even though she came back. We just wanted to let you know that Rikki will be living with me and my father from now on."

"Oh no you don't." Terry reached down to lift Rikki up by her hair again.

"If you don't let us have her now, we will get the police involved. If you just let her come with us, we won't make anything of it. Now, what will it be?"

"Fine," He threw Rikki towards Zane, who caught her then stood her up. "Have her, I don't want her anymore. I can find another one. You deserve to die just like your slut of a mother did Rikki." He sneered at her. Zane put his arm round Rikki to comfort her, but it just made her jump, then she realised it was him, and put his arm round herself again.

*

"Rikki, are you ok?" Emma asked, concerned as Rikki was checking the damage done by her father in the mirror in Emma's bathroom.

"Yeah, fine," She replied preoccupied with putting a wet tissue on her eye, not paying much attention, she had done it lost throughout her childhood.

"Are you sure, he did hurt you a lot." Rikki scoffed.

"That's one of the good days," She chuckled, and the others just gasped. "Do you have anything to eat?" She said changing the subject.

"Um, sure... We have the usual, you know, crisps, biscuits, whatever, help yourself."

"Cool," Rikki ran out of the room grinning ear to ear.

"How is she?" Mrs Gilbert poked her head round her daughter's door.

"Oh she's fine. Completely brushed it off. She's used to it, I guess. She's gone to raid the cupboards."

"Poor girl."

"Oh, hey Lisa!" Rikki burst through the door, her attitude had completely changed. She had her friends, her wonderful boyfriend, a place to call home, and no more threats from her father.

"Hello Rikki, so you're all happy everything's alright with your dad now?"

Rikki's face fell, she had just gotten it mostly out of her mind; She was happy now, and nothing or nobody could change it, then Lisa brought it up.

"Yeah.." She mumbled.

"So you're going to be living with Zane and his father now?"

"Yeah," She immediately brightened up at the mention of Zane's name.

"What about your mum?"

"She's um....dead.." She whispered.

"Oh! I'm sorry,"

"Doesn't matter." She replied with a lone tear rolling down her face.

"How?" Cleo whispered.

"Murder.."

"Oh my god! Did they find out who did it?" Rikki nodded.

"It was my dad.."

"What?! He killed your mum?"

"Yeah... My mum...She was my age, when she had me... My dad, was 36, he found her, and r-raped her... He kept her captive while I was in her womb... Then when I... Then when I was born, he m-murdered her... H-He made me watch... But I can't r-remember any of it though..." She told her story, and everyone just stared in shock. They couldn't believe that such a young girl had such a traumatizing past.

"What was her name?" Emma asked.

"Lisa, like yours, but my mum was 18, when she... died."

"That would have been cool if we were like sisters, or half sisters or whatever, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah,"

"But then she would be living with you, not me!" Zane playfully said, pulling Rikki over into a hug. "Do you want to visit her grave one day?"

"Yeah, I'd like that... But I need to do one thing first,"

"What?"

"When I was still... Living on the streets, this girl, called... Lisa, she talked to me, she was the one that convinced me to come back to you guys. She told me that if everything went well, that I had to ring her. She never gave me her number, but I'm going to ring up Tesco's-"

"Tesco's?"

"Yeah, I was getting some food out of the bins out the back, and she was on her break, she spoke to me. She worked there, I'm going to ring the branch up."

"Well... Okay then, you can borrow my mobile."

"Thanks,"

She dialled the number she found on the Tesco's website, and waited for an answer.

_Hello and welcome to Tesco central Sydney. If you have a complaint, please press 1. If you need more details of our branch, please press 2. To speak to a human operator, please hold._

Rikki waited even more, then finally someone answered.

"Hello, you have reached the help desk how may I help you?"

"Um.. I was wondering whether you could put me in touch with my friend Lisa? She's an employee here."

"Oh, I'll just check our records..."

"Thanks.."

"We have no records of any Lisa here, are you sure it's her name?"

"Yeah, definitely.. Could she have left?"

"No, we have never had a Lisa working here. I'm sorry. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No... No thank you..." Rikki replied, putting the phone down. "She never worked there... There's never been any Lisa working there..."

"Well, that's a bit weird.."

"I know.."

"So what do you want to do now?"

"Um.. Could we... I, go and visit my mum's grave?"

"Sure, do you want me to come with you?"

"Yes.. Yes please. I know where it is, I've just never had the guts to visit..."

"Until now."

"Yeah,"

"Do you want us to come?" Emma asked, gesturing between Cleo and herself.

"Yes please," She smiled.

*

The group of 4 teenagers stood round the grave that was now covered in moss. Rikki was kneeling next to it, she had pulled the moss off the grave, so the faint words could be read.

_Lisa May Cooksoon_

_April 7__th__ 1973-November 13__th__ 1991_

_She will be missed._

Rikki scoffed. "She doesn't deserve that. She would have cared for me. If my _father" _She said the words with so much venom, "Hadn't have murdered her, she would be fine. It's his entire fault." She was breaking down now. "He-He's ruined everything. Nothing will ever be the same again," Then she broke down into hysterics.

**A lone figure watched the outburst from the hill overlooking the graveyard. The figure was wearing a Tesco employee uniform, alongside a badge reading **_**Lisa. **_

"**I'm sorry I had to leave you,"**

**The woman whispered, before turning and fading into the wind.**

~Fin~

Yeah.. So there we have it. The end. Took my time didn't I? I've been really busy lately, so I obviously haven't been able to update. I'm planning on finishing my other story, _Secretive for my own good, I think, _then starting on a Twilight one. I have a good idea, and hopefully I will be writing it soon, when I have the time. Anyway, please review, also, if you didn't understand the ending, just PM me (:


End file.
